ALPLAUS >> For the second time in as many weeks the Burnt Hills Rowing Association has earned a medal at a national championship regatta.

Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School students Mike Frees and Tommy Short were out-numbered but not out-powered Sunday afternoon, racing their way to a bronze medal in the junior men’s double at the Canadian Secondary Schools Rowing Association regatta in St. Catherine’s, Ontario, Canada.

The BHRA was only one of New York State teams to take the trip North and it was one of the smaller contingents that the Spartan boathouse has sent to the Canadian Schoolboys with only eight entries.

“It was a really close-knit group we really got to know each other on the way up there and really bonded as a team,” Mike Frees said. “We kind of made some knew friendships along the way.

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“It was nice taking a small group, we’ve taken large groups before and it’s chaos,” Tommy Short said. “You don’t get a good personal connection with your coach. We each only had two races over the weekend, so (Coach) Mike (Meier) was really focusing on us.”

That focus paid off for the duo, racing to a first-place finish in their opening heat, covering the 2,000-meter international course in seven minutes, 29.37 seconds.

On Saturday, the pair again earned a first-place finish in their seeded semifinal, winning with a time of 7:57.50 heading into Sunday’s championship final.

“In the heat because we didn’t know what we were going up against,” Short said. “We only knew one of the teams, E.L. Crossley because they came down for the Saratoga Invitational and we didn’t really remember them that much.

“At states we knew who the fast boats were, who was slow, who we could hold our own against,” Short said. “Up there anyone pulling into the stake docks could be a winner.”

The Burnt Hills student-athletes saved their best for last Sunday afternoon, edging out Lisgar Collegiate Institute from Ottawa, Canada to the finish line by 55/100ths of a second.

“We were in fourth place at one point and then we had a great sprint and we just walked on them,” Short said. “It was stressful the entire way, just going down the course that it was anyone’s race.”

The finish was so close that the duo didn’t know they were medal winners until the announcement came over the loudspeakers.

From there they had to make a detour.

Traditionally, finishing out of the medals, crews return to the launch dock to then load their racing shell on their respective trailers. On Sunday, Short and Frees made their way to the medal dock, to be awarded their bronze medals in front of the assembled crowd.

“It’s a wonderful feeling, knowing how you did in the race, everyone is watching you, your whole team is cheering you on and then they get to see you on the podium,” Frees said. “It’s a great feeling.”

Mike Frees and Tommy Short are only the second boat to earn a medal at the Canadian Schoolboys, the last time a BHRA entry retuned across the border with a medal it was the boys senior eight in 2008.

It was E.L. Crossley from Fonthill, Ontario that was the toast of the competition, winning by six seconds in front of St. George’s Collegiate Institute from Ottawa and Burnt Hills.

“E.L. Crossley, the team who had the fastest time in the heats and the semifinals, we knew they were going to be quick and that they were going to push everyone right to the end,” Burnt Hills Rowing Association boys varsity coach Mike Meier said. “They were close to us in the semis and heats, it wasn’t a disappointment. It was a solid race, a fast race right to the finish line and they earned a quality medal out of it.”

About the Author

Stan Hudy covers scholastic rowing, high school, and community sports, with emphasis on southern Saratoga County. Reach the author at shudy@digitalfirstmedia.com
or follow Stan on Twitter: @stanhudy.